Mikkola reaches 400 NHL games in Panthers' win over Kings
The 6-foot-6 Florida defenceman reached the milestone in a 2-1 win at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Niko Mikkola played his 400th NHL game when the Florida Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
"Enjoy every day you're in the NHL," Mikkola said. "It's so special."
St. Louis took the Finnish defenceman in the fifth round (127th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. He spent time with the Blues and the New York Rangers before signing with Florida in July 2023.
Across his 230 regular-season games with Florida, he has averaged 20:12 of ice time. The club credits him with a team-leading 453 hits and 299 blocked shots during that span. He was part of the Stanley Cup teams in 2024 and 2025, and he is in the first year of an eight-year contract.
"He plays with such a high energy level and he competes so hard," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "He keeps all the other, certainly Finnish guys, in check because nobody knows what he's saying on the bench. He's one of the great personalities in our room."
Forward Sam Reinhart pointed to the same qualities on the ice. "It's easy to see what he brings: the competitiveness, the length," Reinhart said. "It's just that hunger and drive to compete and win every battle he's in."
